Understanding the Difference between Native and Hybrid Mobile App Development

Today the mobile world is ruled by iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows operating systems. With a sharp rise in the usage of smartphones, the app market is bombarded with numerous apps, due to which mobile apps have become unavoidable and are no longer optional. The real reason for the app market being flooded is that it has become very easy for anyone to sell their product.

So with such a large assortment of apps available, the question arises which one should you opt for your business? There are various factors that determine which app is suitable for you to select- functionality, capability, security, etc. Henceforth, you should first look at the pros and cons of these mobile app types before selecting one.

Let’s begin with understanding the difference between Native and Hybrid mobile apps.

A Native app is the one that is designed for a specific operating system. These apps are available on Google’s Play Store, or Apple’s Play Store from where users can install them on their smart devices. Native apps are designed keeping in mind the requirements of the platform along with the language supported by the platform. For example, the apps developed for Android platform are to be used only by Android users. Therefore, we can say that native apps perform the best on a specific platform.

The cross-platform development makes Hybrid apps quite popular. These apps are installed on a native container and are available on various app stores to be installed. Main advantage of developing hybrid apps is that they have reliable, cross platform UI, thus, making them compatible with almost every device. Moreover, these are quite similar to web apps on development terms as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS are used to develop these apps.

Mobile development is evolving each year and new operating systems come out with native APIs; but the containers are shortly designated to hybrid apps. Here are some factors to differentiate these apps further and help you determine what you want.

User Interface & Experience:

Native apps are the ones offering user experience that’s compatible with the platform. The reason for these apps being the right one for delivering the best user experience is that these are specially developed keeping in mind the requirements of a specific app store where we have majority of the other apps available. But, Hybrid apps provide an excellent experience when we talk about compatibility with screen size and hardware capabilities because of their cross platform functionality.

Development Cost and Time:
Developing Hybrid app take less time, as developers are required to maintain only a single code. While the native app takes a lot more time and requires a developer with special skill of a particular platform. Therefore, this makes hybrid apps less expensive in comparison to native apps. Having said this, it doesn’t mean that native apps are not decent; they have their own advantages.

Platform Reach:
Every client desires that his/her app reaches out to maximum number of users. In this scenario it’s the HTML based hybrid app fits the bill. These apps are accessible on multiple devices easily whereas native apps have restricted boundaries and are available to a particular operating system.

Paid or Free app:
Since Native apps have better UI feature, it is recommended to offer Native apps as paid apps; while, the Hybrid apps can be built as free apps.

Final Thoughts

Both the Native and Hybrid apps are necessary to cater to the varied demands of the users. Therefore, selecting which one you want completely depends on your business type, users’ expectation, and the development requirements. I hope this article helped in clearing your doubts about the two types of apps. So choose wisely and let your app make a mark in the app world.

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